Dimensional Ruler's Etude Vol 2
by Hayaki
Summary: The second volume in the Dimensional Ruler's Etude series features a more mature Saya after her previous journey. In the world where Aragami run free devouring everything in sight, she finds herself unable to combat the ongoing threat despite her arsenal of weapons. Becoming a God Eater is her only choice if she wishes to save this world from total destruction.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** As I am still working out some kink with DRE Vol. 1, I decided to begin work on Vol. 2 of the series instead. Of course, each installation of DRE can be enjoyed as a standalone experience with minimal knowledge needed of what happens in the other volumes. Special thanks to all the people who helped me finalize this decision as I was stuck from choosing between a couple of different series to base this volume in. Anyways, please enjoy this short entry chapter of Saya's adventures in the God Eater universe.

* * *

"You're way too slow! Stop dragging your feet and pick up the pace!" I barked as I watched the group of people I was training stumble over their own feet trying to complete the obstacle course I had built. "The Aragami aren't going to wait for you to get back up and start running again!"

It was a simple course I made to mimic areas in the ruined city next to our camp. Unfortunately it really didn't seem like these people were cut out for free-running despite being healthy adults. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair before continuing to guide the survivors through the course. I might not be able to make them into pros, but the least I could do is to give them a little edge when it comes to running from the Aragami.

Just as the last of the survivors were finishing the course, the door to the repurposed abandoned factory burst open and a frantic man came running in.

"S-Sensei! Th-the Aragami are attacking!"

Damn! They've gotten smarter then, have they? Looks like I'm going to need to improvise some new traps.

"Alright. Thank you, Sato. Go warn the rest and initiate an evacuation. We're abandoning this camp." As the man nodded and ran out the way he came, I turned to the others to see that they all had begun panicking. "Go! Hurry and get to the escape vehicles! I'll go and assist the others in the evacuation."

Without waiting for a response, I ran out of the training grounds and out into the blazing sun. The other survivors were already running towards where all the escape vehicles were parked as a couple of small Aragami made their way into the camp and began eating away at everything in sight.

I began running into the crowd while directing people towards the escape vehicles when I heard a someone call out to me.

"Saya!"

Turning to the sound of the voice, I saw a young woman wearing a red tank top running towards me.

"Saya! Have you seen Lenka anywhere? I looked everywhere, but I can't find him!" the girl, Iroha, shouted in a frenzied panic.

I shook my head.

"Sorry. I haven't seen him. Maybe he's already at the escape vehicles," I suggested while trying to calm her down.

"No. That was the first place I checked. I thought that maybe he was training with you again so I came to find you."

This wasn't good. Don't tell me that idiot brat snuck off again. Almost all of the survivors were now out of the camp and I could hear a few of the escape vehicles begin to drive off. Meanwhile, more and more Aragami were beginning to flow into the camp.

"Alright. I'll go look for him. You just hurry up and get to the escape vehicles with your dad and get out of here," I said while pushing her behind me and running towards the feeding monsters.

"Wait! But what about-!"

"Just go!"

Out of the corner of my eye I could see her hesitate for a moment before deciding that listening to me was the best she could do right now.

There was no doubt that Lenka was the best of the survivors in terms of running and hiding from the Aragami, but when there are this many in one area…

As I was running, one of the dinosaur-like Aragami decided it would be a good idea to have me as an after meal dessert. Unfortunately for him, I'm not about to let myself be eaten that easily. My arm flashed out and the Aragami was obliterated in a brief flash of light.

Heh. Good thing this book still works against these things. If it wasn't for this little thing I would've been dead a long time ago. It was back when the Aragami first appeared when I found out the hard way that conventional weaponry doesn't work against the them. I wasted a lot of weapons trying to fend them off only for me to lose an eye and nearly lose my life.

I reached up towards my face and gingerly rubbed the black eye patch that covered my right eye, or rather where my right eye would be if it was still there. Even with the eye patch on everybody could see the nasty scar that was left when my eye was clawed out.

Out of the corner of my one good eye, I spotted a figure moving quickly through the rubble of the ruined campsite. It was too small to have been one of the Aragami so I'm guessing that's Lenka.

I quickly changed my trajectory and began sprinting in the direction I saw him running in and before long I caught sight of him just in time to see an Aragami leap out of a pile of rubble ready to blindside him.

"Lenka, move!"

Although he did react to my shout, he wouldn't be able to react in time to dodge the Aragami barreling towards him with its jaws wide open. Seriously. This idiot always causes so many problems for me.

Planting one of my feet on the ground, I propelled myself forward with a flash step which ended with me colliding into Lenka and knocking him out of the way. Unfortunately that meant that I was now standing exactly where he was.

I managed to raise my arms in front of me in some feeble attempt to block the razor sharp teeth before the Aragami slammed and pinned me to the ground.

"Sensei!" I heard Lenka call out. Knowing that idiot, he'd probably try to save me right now.

"Just go!" I yelled back as I summoned a pair of daggers into my hands to keep the Aragami from biting clean through my arms. It didn't help too much since I already felt its teeth sinking into my flesh.

"But-!"

"Go! Iroha and your dad are waiting at the evac point! If you don't hurry up and go now you'll just be putting the rest of the survivors in danger! Now you could either die here with me and have your family follow after us, or you could leave me here and save them! It's your choice!"

I could feel the boy freeze up at the mention of his sister and his father. I may be his teacher, but those two are his only family left. The decision should be easy for him.

"I'm sorry, Sensei!" I heard him say before hearing him run away.

"Heh. Nothing to be sorry for, kid."

Finally. Now I can get this stupid thing off of me.

Switching the daggers out for an unassuming book with a blank cover, I tore out a page of the book and the Aragami instantly vanished in a flash of light. Standing up, I brushed myself off and began performing a thorough check of my body. My sleeves were shredded up and multiple shallow cuts layered my arms, but it wasn't anything too severe. For now though, it'd be best for me to hightail it out of here before more Aragami find me and decided that I would make for a good meal.

Tucking the book under my arm, I began dashing through the remains of the campsite with Aragami busy feeding on anything that hasn't been taken or destroyed already.

I glanced down at my former travel journal and flipped through the remaining pages. Looks like I only have ten more shots left in this. Once this thing is gone, I'll be pretty much completely helpless in this world. The amount of magic in the environment isn't even close enough to let me use some of my lower level magical weapons let alone spells, and my near infinite arsenal of weapons is pretty much useless against these things. I guess my only choice is to head to Fenrir and become a God Eater. As much as I'd love to continue helping those survivors out I can't exactly go back to them when they think I'm dead. Well, it's no skin off my back. I was planning to head over to Fenrir anyways when I finished training Lenka. This just means my schedule got bumped forward a little bit. Heh. The last thirty-five years sure flew by in a flash.

Quickly tearing off some strips of cloth from my clothes, I wrapped up my arms and began on my long trek to Fenrir's Far East Branch.

The journey was a long one. It had taken me three whole days of travelling on foot before I finally arrived at the towering walls that marked the otherwise barren landscape. Unfortunately, in the process of getting here I used up the remaining pages in the travel journal.

As I approached one of the many gates that lined the wall, one of the God Eaters, a young man wearing a red jacket, guarding it stepped forward to greet me. The last time I came here was around fifteen years ago when Iroha found Lenka.

"Hey there!" He said with a cheerful wave as he shouldered his weapon. "Welcome to Fenrir's Far East Branch. I'm Tatsumi of the Defense Unit. What can I help you with, ma'am?"

"I want to become a God Eater," I answer.

"Ah, I see. Hold on while – wait. Are you alone?" The guy, Tatsumi asked incredulously.

I guess it's not too often for people to show up here by themselves. The smaller Aragami are easier to avoid, but those huge tiger-like things that shoot electricity everywhere can destroy an entire settlement within minutes by itself.

I nodded.

"Yes. I'm alone. I was with a group but we got separated when an Aragami attacked us."

Not exactly the whole truth, but not a lie either.

"For real? Alright. I'll put in a report later to send out a search team. For now, do you mind holding out your arm? I'm going to perform a compatibility check," the kid said as he took out a box of those clear strips and applied one on my shoulder.

I wonder how many people this guy has turned away. Although I don't exactly like Fenrir's principles, I can understand why they turn away people who can't become God Eaters. The sanctuary only has so much space and there are only so many God Eaters.

"Perfect!" Tatsumi exclaimed as he removed the patch that had now turned orange. "Alright. Head on inside, miss. There'll be another God Eater waiting inside. He'll direct you to headquarters where you'll undergo a few more tests."

Well, at least the guy is at least polite enough to not question my physical abilities because of my age. I know I don't exactly look as old as I am, but it's pretty clear that I'm still much older than him.

Stepping past Tatsumi, I moved towards the opening gate that was slowly revealing the settlement that lay inside.

Twenty years since the advent of the Aragami and now it's finally time to make a counterattack. Heh. These greenhorns who think they can fight are about to get schooled by this old woman.

* * *

Sighing, I collapsed onto one of the seats that decorated the Far East Branch's main lobby while cracking open a random drink that I had bought. Getting that Bias Factor stuff injected into me hurt like hell, but I do feel a lot stronger than I did before.

"Uh… Hey there!"

Hm?

I glanced to the side where that voice originated from to see young boy wearing some kind of getup. The scarf and knitted cap really clashed with the midriff exposing sleeveless jacket and baggy shorts. Seriously. Is this kid trying to stay warm or cool off?

"Yeah? Need something?" I asked as the kid sat down across from me.

He shook his head.

"Oh, no. Not really. I'm new here so I thought that I might as well go around and introduce myself to my seniors," he said as he held out his hand. "I'm Kota Fujiki, by the way. Nice to meet you!"

Senior? Ah, I guess saw my looks and got the wrong idea. I guess it is kind of strange to have a recruit to be older than some of the veterans.

"Heh. I'm glad you think I'm some kind of hotshot, but I just started today, too. In fact, I just got this thing put on me," I said while grabbing his hand and giving it a firm shake. "The name's Saya."

"Huh?! For reals? From the way you look I just assumed that you were a God Eater for a long time."

I couldn't help but chuckle at his comment.

"Don't get the wrong idea, boy. I've gotten into plenty of scuffles with Aragami in the past. I'm just a bit late to the party 'cause I've been busy with other things."

"Daaamn! So you came from outside the wall? You must be a badass to be able to survive out there."

"I wouldn't quite say that. I've gotten good at running and hiding from Aragami, but I don't really know how to handle a God Arc."

Speaking of, shouldn't it be time for that medical checkup sometime soon? I was told to wait here after getting this bracelet put on me, but quite some time has already passed.

Kota in the meantime had begun rummaging around in his pockets in search of something.

"By the way, Kota. What made you decide to become a God Eater? From what you've told me I can assume that you grew up here, right?" I asked. For a kid like him, I can imagine that he decided to become a God Eater just because he thought that they were cool.

"Hm? Oh! Well… It's true that I've lived inside the walls for my entire life, but I've also seen a couple of Aragami myself," he replied as he pulled his hands out of his pockets. "My family and I live in the Outer Ghetto, you see? So whenever an Aragami breaks through the wall the people in the Outer Ghetto are the ones that get hit first. Of course, the God Eaters do everything they can to help us, but that didn't stop some of the people I knew from dying in those attacks."

The Aragami can break through the walls? I see. So even Fenrir isn't safe from these things. This world is even more screwed than I first thought

"I see. So you became a God Eater so you could protect your family and friends, then?

Kota chuckled sheepishly and nodded.

"Yep. That's right. It's nothing really that noble like saving to world or anything. I know something like that's kinda impossible for me so I'll just stick to protecting the things I can."

Huh. This kid isn't as naïve as I thought he was. I'm kind of impressed.

"I see. You must really love your family."

"That's right! They're pretty much all I've got in this world. Oh, oh! In fact, my lil' sis made this outfit for me! It's based off the main character of Bugurally!" Kota exclaims excitedly.

"Bugurally?"

"Oh yeah. You came from outside, so you probably don't know. Bugurally is-!"

Before Kota could continue, he was interrupted by a woman who had walked up behind him and cleared her throat.

"Saya. Dr. Sakaki is ready for your medical checkup. Do you need assistance in finding his office?"

Standing up, I tossed my empty drink can into the nearby trash can and shook my head.

"I asked Hibari earlier and she told me where it is. I'll be fine on my own, thank you."

"Very well then," the woman replied. "Kota Fujiki. You will go for your medical checkup after Saya is finished."

The boy started at the mention of his name and leapt to his feet with a salute.

"Y-Yes ma'am!"

"Good. I am Tsubaki Amamiya. After the both of you are finished with the doctor, you are to immediately report to me to begin your training. Am I understood?"

""Yes ma'am!"" Kota and I replied in unison.

Well now. I suppose I should head off in that case. Once this checkup is done it's finally time for me to start on my path as a God Eater.

* * *

 **-NORN-**

 **Saya**

 _The first New-Type to join the Far East Branch._

 _Dr. Paylor Sakaki's medical check acknowledges the high potential in the individual. Assigned to the branch at the same time as Kota Fujiki._

 **Loadout:**

 **Label:** New-Type Pioneer

 **Melee:** Claudia

 **Gun:** Castor Pollux

 **Shield:** Incitatus

 **Modules:** Speed, Step Distance

 **Predator Style:** Skirmisher

 **Favorite Bullet:** Drill Spread

 **Style:** Fauna Suit, Fauna Slacks


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Kinda seems like apologizing for delays is becoming a norm for me. Anyways, here's the next installment of DRE Vol. 2.

* * *

I stepped forward onto the ledge overlooking the City of Mercy. It certainly held some… elegance to it for lack of a better word. The massive holes where Aragami took bites off of high-rises were a little unnerving, though. Even though I was there during the advent, I haven't seen any Aragami big enough to chomp down on a building After blasting through those training simulations, Tsubaki decided that it was about time for me to head out on my first real mission.

"Don't go getting cold feet on me now, rook. Man, it feels weird calling you that."

I felt a slap on my back as my captain, a handsome young man named Lindow Amamiya, walked past with his God Arc resting on his shoulder.

Chuckling, I nudged his arm with my elbow and moved to stand beside him.

"I've survived encounters with those Vajra things even before I became a God Eater. Why would I get nervous when facing a couple of Ogretails?"

"Heh. Good point," Lindow said with a chuckle as he took out a cigarette and lit it before holding the box out to me.

"Thanks."

I slid a cigarette out of the small cardboard box before Lindow held out his lighter and lit the end for me. It's been a while since I last had a smoke so I may as well enjoy this. Planting my God Arc into the ground, I took a puff and savored it.

"Well then, shall we get going?" I asked while shooting a glance at Lindow. "Those Ogretails aren't going to kill themselves."

"Eager are we? Alright, but first I'm gonna lay down some ground rules," the young captain said as he turned to face me and held out three of his fingers. "I've only got three orders for everyone in my unit. One, don't die. Two, if your numbers up, get out. Three, hide. If you're lucky, catch the enemy off guard and take it down. Or wait. Is that four?"

Lindow paused and ran a hand through his hair before shaking his head.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter. Bottom line is, survive. Everything you've worked toward will be moot if you end up getting yourself killed."

I couldn't help but smile at his words. I haven't even seen this guy fight yet, but I already know why he's the captain of the 1st. I'm looking forward to working for him.

"I can't argue with that," I replied as I pulled my God Arc out of the ground and gave it a twirl to fling the dirt off of its violet blade. "Surviving's one of the things I'm good at."

"Alright then, New-Type. Time to get this show on the road! You take the lead this time. I'm eager to see what you can do up close and personal."

Finally. It's time to take this baby out for a spin. Apparently since I'm the first New-Type, they spared all the expenses they could to grant me a custom made God Arc made from extremely rare Aragami materials. That Licca girl apparently had a blast making it, though.

Leaping off of the cliff, I landed on an unfortunate Ogretail that had been wandering around below and plunged my blade into its head. It let out a piercing screech as it thrashed around in pain for a few seconds before collapsing.

I looked over at Lindow who landed beside me and let out a long whistle.

"You sure don't pull any punches, do you?" He commented as I began devouring the slowly melting corpse of the Ogretail.

"Hesitation is a death sentence when it comes to Aragami. These things won't hesitate to kill you so it's only fair if we do the same."

Lindow grinned and swung his God Arc at an Ogretail that had leapt at him from behind. His chainsaw like weapon easily ripped through its flesh and tore it in two.

"Hey, maybe I should add that to my list of rules."

"We can debate about adding things to your list after we take care of this mission, captain. Come on, let's go!"

Switching my God Arc into gun form, I dashed towards another Ogretail and blasted it point blank. The bullet tore through its body while simultaneously blasting it away.

It didn't take long for both Lindow and I to finish dispatching the rest of the Ogretails with the pace we were keeping at. In no time at all we had mopped up all fifteen targets.

"Man," Lindow said as his God Arc finished ripping the core from the final Ogretail. "Are all you outsiders this tough? If I didn't know better I would've thought that you'd been doing this for years."

He isn't exactly wrong about that, but I can't tell him that I'm an immortal deity that can traverse through different worlds.

"This honestly didn't feel all that different from those training sims," I replied nonchalantly while flinging the slowly evaporating Aragami blood off of my blade. These Oracle Cells really are quite amazing.

"True. Ogretails are pretty much the weakest of the weak, but that doesn't mean you can let your guard down. They can still be pretty dangerous if they swarm you."

"Thanks, captain. I'll keep that in mind."

The two of us shot the shit for a little while longer while we waited for the evac chopper to come pick us up before we headed back to headquarters. All in all, I'd say that was a resounding success.

* * *

After returning home from my mission with Lindow, I decided to relax in the main lobby for a while and study up on the strengths and weaknesses that the stronger Aragami have. Certain Aragami have certain elemental affinities so it's important to take that into account when choosing the type of bullet to shoot them with. In addition to that, some Aragami have more armor on certain parts of their bodies compared to others. The Vajra, for example, is weak to fire and has the least armor on its tail.

Hm… I wonder how many God Eaters have died in the line of duty to get this kind of information on the Aragami. I mean, that old man Gen is the only surviving member of the Prototype God Eaters. Not to mention I barely see any God Eaters over the age of thirty like me around Fenrir.

As I was pouring over the notes Dr. Sakaki gave me, an alarm began blaring throughout the base as Hibari's voice crackled to life over the intercom.

"Attention all God Eaters! There have been a multiple breaches in the defensive wall at area G23! All available God Eaters, please sortie immediately to the area and subdue the Aragami threat! I repeat…"

The wall's been breached? I heard from Dr. Sakaki that the Aragami are able to evolve to break through the wall, but for it to happen so soon after I joined?

From the looks of things there also doesn't seem to be any off duty God Eaters right now. In fact, I was the only one in the lobby aside from Hibari.

Well then. I suppose I should get going, then.

Hopping off the couch I was resting on, I quickly ran over to the elevator and made my way down to the God Arc storage area. As the doors to the elevator slid open I was greeted by the sight of another empty room. I rushed over to the machine holding onto my God Arc and grabbed it before running out of the half open hangar shutter into the city.

"Hey, Hibari," I called as I slipped a small communicator over my ear. "The breach happened over at G23, right? What's the situation like over there?"

" _Saya? Right. So far the readings show only a few Ogretails and a Kongou have made it inside. The Defense Unit is currently defending the breaches and the 1_ _st_ _Unit is currently on their way back from their mission. Their ETA should be about ten minutes. In the meantime, you are to ensure the citizens safety and subdue any Aragami you come across. There's already another God Eater engaged with the Aragami in the area so you should meet up with him as soon as possible."_

"Roger that."

Ten minutes until reinforcements. It's going to take another minute for me to get there at my full speed. Hopefully whoever that lone God Eater is can hold out.

Leaping over a building, I traversed the rooftops until I saw and heard the telltale signs of a long-ranged God Arc firing shots off. I homed in on the location and saw some flashy looking guy wearing a red vest with tattoos all over his chest holding his ground against a horde of Ogretails. Despite his appearance, it was clear that he was pretty skilled. Every shot he made was well placed at the Ogretails unarmored flanks and he managed to take down them down with one shot.

But…

As an Ogretail crept up behind him, I launched myself off of the rooftop I was on and plunged my blade into its waiting maw.

"Hey kid. You should always pay attention to your surroundings in a battle or else you'll have an Aragami chomping down on you from behind," I said jokingly before switching my God Arc into its gun form and blasting away another Ogretail.

"Heh. Glad to see some reinforcements finally arrived. I'm Eric der Vogelweid by the way. It's nice to finally meet the rumored rookie!"

Switching back to blade form, I slashed through an Ogretail and restored some of my Oracle reserves before firing it all away in another bullet.

While working in tandem with Eric, we made short work of the rest of the Ogretails. His shooting skills really were top notch. As I disrupted the Aragami's ranks Eric methodically picked them off one by one until finally we managed to clear out the whole area.

"That wasn't half bad for a newbie," Eric commented as he hefted his God Arc onto his shoulder. "Maybe with some time you'll get to be as good as me.

I couldn't help but smirk at the kid's cockiness. He's certainly earned the right to brag about his skills. It takes guts and skill to face off against so many Aragami on your own; especially as a long-range God Arc user.

Just as I was about to reply, Hibari's voice blared through the communicator. _"Saya, Eric! It seems all the fighting's drawn the attention of a Kongou! It's headed your way right now!"_

"Hmph. Well it looks like it's still a bit too early to celebrate, kid. Look alive!" I shouted as the simian Aragami came barreling through some poor person's house.

Eric' God Arc was readied in a second before he fired off a volley of shots that made the Kongou real backwards. Taking advantage of the situation, I dashed forward and slashed at its chest before circling around behind it and slashing at its tail. The Kongou retaliated by spinning around to try to slap me away with one of its arms only to miss and lose its balance. With its back now towards Eric, he landed multiple shots on the Kongou's unarmored points as I slashed upwards and broke apart its mask. The beast cried out in pain and reared backwards before landing flat on its back.

" _Bond break confirmed! Now's your chance to press your attack!"_

Switching to gun form, I loaded in a cartridge for a special bullet I've been working on. Shoving the barrel of the gun right into the Kongou's soft underbelly, I pulled the trigger and the resulting recoil blew me away from the Aragami. The Kongou trashed helplessly as multiple scatter shots exploded and tore it apart from the inside. It was an extremely powerful bullet I had created to deal with larger sized Aragami. The theory behind it was simple. I just packed a bunch of scatter modules into a singular short ranged slug module. Once the slug embeds itself into the Aragami, it would release its payload. Unfortunately though, the Oracle use is extremely high and I can only manage one shot before I have to reload.

The Kongou tried to struggle back up to its feet before collapsing, the Oracle cells floating up out of its body a sign that it had been defeated.

" _Oracle response fading! Defeat of the Kongou is confirmed. Good work you two!"_

Well, that was a lot easier than I expected it to be. Then again, Kongous are pretty much just above Ogretails in terms of danger levels. I'm pretty sure if it was a Vajra then…

" _Hold on, I'm getting another Oracle response and it's closing in fast… Oh no! It's a Vajra! You have to get out of there!"_

Great. Speak of the devil and it shall come, huh?

"Hold on, what about the evacuees?" Eric asked.

" _The evacuation of G26's citizens have almost been completed. The rest of the 1_ _st_ _Unit will be there in four minutes so you can leave it to them. A Vajra is too much for you guys right now."_

I'm not going to argue with her there. I heard that Lindow's the only one that has been able to take down one of these things by himself. Despite how much a crack shot Eric may be, his situational awareness is a bit lacking.

"Hibari's right, Eric. We've done enough here so let's just leave the rest to Lindow and the others," I said.

"Right" the red-haired kid answered. "As much as I don't want to, even I know when I am outmatched. Let us make a hasty retreat."

Nice to know that he's sensible at least.

"Kyaaaaa!"

Just as the two of us had made to leave, we heard a piercing shriek come from a few blocks away. There are still people who haven't evacuated?! Shit…

Before I could react, Eric had taken off towards the direction where the scream originated.

"Wait! Eric!"

Ignoring my shout, the idiot kept on running and disappeared around a corner.

"That goddamned idiot…"

Muttering curses under my breath, I sprinted after Eric while patching in a call to Hibari.

"Change of plans, Hibari! It seems like there's still someone who hasn't evacuated. Eric and I are moving to intercept the Vajra!"

" _What?! But-!"_

"No time, Hibari. Just tell Lindow to hurry his ass up!"

Cutting off the call, I arrived at the location where the scream came from just in time to see Eric get sent flying away by a swipe from the Vajra's claws. I watched as he crashed into a ruined building before being buried underneath the rubble.

Tch. Dammit! At least the idiot made it in time if the scared little girl huddling in the corner of a ruined house was of any indication.

After that last drill shot, I don't have enough Oracle to fire another. I'll just have to do my best to keep it busy until reinforcements get here.

Dashing towards the beast, I slid under it and slashed at its legs before kicking off the ground to avoid a tail swipe. As the tail passed harmlessly underneath me, I landed on the Vajra's back and plunged my God Arc into its back. Although… I may as well just have stabbed it with a damn toothpick. The Vajra didn't even react to my attack. That was when I felt something wrong in the air. All the hairs on my body stood on end and I could hear a vague crackling sound beginning to crescendo.

Wait… Vajra's are able to discharge electricity.

Shit!

Wrenching my blade free, I pushed off of the Vajra's back as hard as I could, but I was too late. My body seized up and I was sent flying through the air as an electric field formed around the Vajra's body. My insides felt like they were frying up and I couldn't brace myself or recover for when I slammed back down onto the ground.

" _Saya! It's too dangerous to keep fighting against the Vajra! You and Eric have to retreat!"_

Ignoring Hibari's frantic orders, I struggled back up to my feet; lingering traces of the Vajra's electricity still handicapping some of my motor functions.

The Vajra, however, had decided that I wasn't a threat anymore and had turned away to face its original prey. The little girl was probably too paralyzed by fear to move or to run away.

Heh. Big mistake, turning your back to me.

Wh-huh? I… Can't move..!

Dammit! My legs are still paralyzed! At this rate I won't make it in time!

I watched helplessly from the side as the Vajra opened its jaws, prepared to devour the girl when suddenly a bullet flew through the air and blasted its tail off. Looking to the side I saw Eric with his God Arc in hand. His body was covered in cuts and scrapes, and there was blood freely pouring down the side of his head. Even in that condition he managed to land such a precise shot. Heh. The kid really shows a lot of promise.

"Hey, Eric! Nice to see you're still kicking!" I yelled at him as feeling slowly returned to my legs.

"It will take a lot more than that to keep me down! Especially when a beautiful young lady is in danger!" He replied with a pained grin.

"Then look alive. We've still got our damsel in distress to protect!"

I leapt to the side just in time to avoid a ball of electricity that the Vajra had shot as Eric circled around the side and started firing on it. Our little skirmish continued with me distracting the Vajra as best I could while Eric did steady damage to it with his bullets. Everything was going well until we made one fatal error. The two of us were so focused on taking down the Vajra that we had completely neglected the little girl we were supposed to protect so it came as a surprise when one of the Vajra's electric shots went astray and sped towards the girl. Unfortunately, being just a child, the girls couldn't process what was happening fast enough to move out of the way.

Of course, I reacted in the only way I knew how to. Dashing forward into the ball's trajectory, I deployed my shield and braced myself for the hit. My whole being shook and it felt like my arms would break under the pressure. As I lowered my shield, I was greeted by the sight of the Vajra mid-pounce barreling towards me.

Shit! If I moved away now the girl behind me would get hit, but I can't bring my shield up in time to block either.

I braced myself as I felt the Vajra's claws tear into my side before its paw connected and sent me flying.

"Saya!"

Luckily, the Bias Factor helps to numb the pain otherwise I doubt I'd even be conscious right now. It was all I could to struggle back up to my feet with three huge lacerations in my side.

Dammit! Where the hell is Lindow?!

" _Eric! No!"_

Glancing up, I was greeted by the sight of Eric shielding the little girl with his body with the Vajra's claws puncturing through his torso.

Shit… And he had so much potential as well. I might as well take advantage of the situation and try to take down the Vajra from behind.

I steadied myself with my God Arc before launching myself towards the beast that had begun feeding on Eric's corpse. Slamming into what was left of Eric's body, I shoved the rest of his remains into the Vajra's maw and aimed the barrel of my God Arc down its throat before firing a single shot.

There was an explosion of viscera as my bullet blew apart the Vajra from the inside.

Well. I suppose that takes care of that. I slipped off of the dying Aragami and landed on the ground before my legs gave up on me.

I didn't realize how exhausted I was until now.

" _Oracle response fading..! The Vajra has been defeated…"_

A pyrrhic victory, but a victory nonetheless. I saved a life, but lost a life in the process. Unfortunately, in this line of work the survival rate for God Eaters are extremely low so I suppose I'll have to get used to this.

As I was giving Eric a silent prayer, I felt a heavy weight slump down on my chest. It was the girl we worked so hard to save. Seems like the stress of the situation finally caught up to her and she passed out. She really could've picked a better place to do it, though.

Sighing, I began slowly running my hand through her hair as I waited for backup.

Four minutes. God Eaters sure live fast and dangerous lives. I may have fought a lot of things in my previous lives, but it's always tough having to adjust to a new body and world.

I can already tell these Aragami are going to be a pain in the ass to take down.

* * *

 **-NORN-**

 **Saya**

 _The first New-Type to join the Far East Branch._

 _[REDACTED]_

 _Dr. Paylor Sakaki's medical check acknowledges the high potential in the individual. Assigned to the branch at the same time as Kota Fujiki._

 **Loadout:**

 **Label:** New-Type Pioneer

 **Melee:** Claudia

 **Gun:** Castor Pollux

 **Shield:** Incitatus

 **Modules:** Speed, Step Distance

 **Predator Style:** Skirmisher

 **Favorite Bullet:** Drill Spread

 **Style:** Fauna Suit, Fauna Slacks


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Since the God Eater series are shorter and have less story to go through, I'm going to be updating Vol. 2 faster than Vol. 1. Also, if you haven't noticed yet, I'm going to be combining elements of the anime together with the games while adding some additional things on my part. Now without further adieu, let please enjoy.

* * *

"Hey, Rook. You okay?"

Turning around, I saw Lindow standing behind me with a concerned look on his face.

"The Bias Factor helps us heal faster, remember? Besides I already got an okay from Dr. Sakaki."

"Um, no. I meant-"

"Eric, right?" I cut him off before he could continue. "If it's about him, then don't worry. I've seen people close to me die more times than I can count."

The young captain seemed at a loss for words for a brief moment before he recomposed himself.

"Alright…" He said hesitantly before gently placing a hand on my shoulder. "But if you need anyone to talk to, Sakuya and I would be more than happy to listen."

Smirking, I brushed his hand away before turning around and glancing over my shoulder.

"Heh. I'm a decade older than you, cap. You're the one that should be coming to me for advice not the other way around."

I could hear Lindow sigh as I made my way over to the mess hall so I could grab a drink before a commotion at the front desk made me stop.

"Where is he?! I want to see my big brother! Why won't you let me see him?!"

A little girl was adamantly shouting at Hibari while the flustered Operator could only give simple placating responses to no avail. Shrugging I made to walk past them when the girl said a name that I recognized.

"Let me see Eric!"

Eric… I see. So he had a little sister. Tch. Damn.

Doubling back, I shot Hibari a glance who returned it with a grateful nod. I placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and bent down a little so I could look her in the eyes.

"Kid. Eric's dead. You won't be able to see him anymore."

Even before telling her that, I saw that she already suspected it. After all, God Eaters usually live short and fast lives. If people were telling her that her she couldn't meet her brother then that could really only mean one thing.

But even then, her eyes held onto their fiery defiance that reminded me of how Eric looked when fighting off those Aragami by himself.

"Liar! He can't be dead! He promised me that he wouldn't!"

Her voice wavered as tears pricked at the corners of her eyes.

Sighing, I stood back up and wrapped my arms around her, pulling her into my stomach.

"I'm sorry. I was with him when he died. I couldn't save him."

That did it. The tears poured free and I could feel the front of my shirt soaking them up as her tiny fists repeatedly beat against me. I simply stood there silently and let her take her frustrations out on me.

As time passed, her hits grew weaker and slower until finally she just settled for burying her face into my clothes.

"I'm sorry."

It was all I could say at the moment. Anything else I said would've just fallen on deaf ears. There were a few more moments of silence before the girl tore herself away from me and ran away, quickly entering the elevator and disappearing behind the doors.

"Thank you for that, Saya," Hibari said with a slight bow and her face set in a grimace. "It never gets any easier doing this. Especially with children."

"Aye. I can sympathize. She's strong, though. I'm sure she'll be alright."

I heard Hibari giggle and turned to face her with a questioning look.

"Oh, sorry," she apologized, a sheepish smile adorning her features. "It's just. You looked really motherly just now doing your best to comfort Erina. You always looked so serious before so it's a nice change to see you like this."

"Serious? I really come off like that?"

Hibari nodded.

"You almost always have this scowl on your face almost like Soma. I guess the eye patch also kind of adds to that aura."

I quirked an eyebrow at that. Huh. I didn't think that's how I came off as.

"O-Oh! I-It's not like its bad or anything! In fact, I think you look really cool and mature and mysterious and now I'm just rambling aren't I? Sorry. I'll stop."

Chuckling, I reached over the counter and placed my hand on the Operator's head.

"That's fine. Hey, how about when your shift is over I'll treat you to a drink. Think of it as a thanks for all your hard work," I offered.

"Um… You know I'm underage, right?"

"It doesn't have to be alcohol. Just us two girls taking the time to bond with each other."

"Well… Alright. I suppose I'll take you up on that offer then."

Hehe. Nice. You've still got it, Saya!

Glancing behind me, I caught Tatsumi shooting me a death glare to which I returned with a triumphant smirk.

"Alright then. I'll catch you later, Hibari."

I bid the Operator a quick farewell before finally continuing on my way to the mess hall. I'm long overdue for a much needed date with a glass and some whiskey.

* * *

The entirety of the First Unit was currently gathered around our usual hangout spot in the lobby going over our newest mission details. Lindow was sitting at his seat at the head of the table, Kota was sitting next to me, Sakuya across from us, while Soma was standing a little ways away from us with his arms crossed and his trademark scowl on his face.

"And so, we're supposed to be escorting our newest recruit to make sure she makes it back here without any issues," Lindow said as he placed a folder of documents onto the table which Sakuya picked up and began sifting through.

"Hm… It says here that she's a New-Type that the Russian branch decided to send over due to the increasing Aragami presence in the Far East. Her practical test scores are at the top of their branch despite being only fifteen years old as well as boasting a high Bias Factor compatibility. And she's going to be joining our unit," Sakuya summarized as she finished reading through the documents. "Sounds like we're getting a promising one."

"Heh. Almost sounds like partner over here," Kota commented as he pointed his thumb at me.

"Except she's half my age. I'd say that make makes her a lot more impressive than me," I replied as I motioned for Sakuya to hand me the folder so I could read through it for myself.

Alisa Ilinichina Amiella. Mouthful of a name. The picture attached to the documents showed a beautiful blue-eyed silver-haired girl wearing a red variation of Fenrir's standard uniform. Hm… It also says that her parents were killed by a rare Vajra-type named the Diaus Pita when she was young.

"Alright. Kota and Soma will secure the landing zone," Lindow said as he stood up from his seat. "Meanwhile, Sakuya, the rookie, and I will be escorting them from the air. We sortie now."

""Yes sir!""

Standing up, with the exception of Soma, we all moved to gear up before Kota and Soma split off from us to travel via a ground vehicle while Sakuya, Lindow, and I got in a helicopter.

The trip took about an hour and finally after staring out into nothing but blue sky and clouds, the plane finally came into view. Well, except the entire plane was almost completely obscured by a swarm of Zygote-looking Aragami. There was the occasional flash accompanied by a cluster of the Aragami being blown away indicating that our New-Type was probably down there fighting them off.

"Tch." Lindow clicked his tongue as he slipped on a headset and fiddled with some dials on the radio. "Hey, can you hear me? This is Lindow Amamiya, Captain of the Far East branch's First Unit."

There was a brief pause as he waited for a response. He motioned for Sakuya to open the helicopter's door to which she responded with a curt nod. As the sniper began firing at the Aragami, Lindow returned his attention back to the radio.

"Listen. There are way too many Aragami out there. The plane's not gonna last the trip. We'll get as close as we can so you can escape with us."

Unfortunately, there really wasn't anything for me to do since I'm pretty much a close to mid-range combatant. My shotgun isn't really going to be that effective at this distance.

"What? What do you mean you won't come? Our mission is to make sure you safely make it to the Far East branch. You-"

Lindow cut himself off as he stared dumbly at the headset. She probably cut comms.

Sighing, our captain ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.

"Looks like our little New-Type doesn't want to abandon the plane for whatever reason. We have enough room on this helicopter for at most three more people so I don't see what the problem is."

"If she's fighting that hard to defend it, then that means there's probably a lot more people than two or three on that plane," I said while standing up and moving to the open door. "Hey, pilot. Take us as close as you can."

"Yes ma'am!"

"Man. If there are a bunch of civilians on that plane then what the hell is the Russian branch thinking?" Lindow muttered as he shouldered his God Arc and moved to stand beside me. "Alright. Guess it's time to earn that paycheque."

"You two be careful down there," Sakuya said, glancing up at us from her firing position. "I'll provide covering fire as best I can, but I only have so many bullets."

"Roger that," Lindow replied while giving a mock salute. "Rook, you ready?"

Smirking, I looked down at the swarming mass of Aragami that we were now hovering over.

"Do you even have to ask?"

Stepping forward, I spread my arms and legs outwards as I sped down towards the plane. Once I got close enough, I gripped the handle of my God Arc with both hands before beginning to spin. The violet blade cut through any Aragami unfortunate enough to be in my way as I became a whirlwind of death. After breaking through the swarm, I landed on the plane successfully, my momentum causing me skid across the body a good amount before finally coming to a stop. Lindow landed next to me in a three-point stance and grinned at me.

"Man. You always know how to make an entrance. You gotta teach me how to do that sometime."

"Sure. Just remind me when we get home," I countered with my own grin.

I dashed forward towards the New-Type and cut down a Zygote as Lindow spun around and smashed another with the flat side of his weapon which sent it careening into its comrades like a bowling ball.

"Hey! New-Type!" I shouted at her as she continued to systematically take down Zygote after Zygote.

She glanced at me briefly and nodded before returning her attention to slaying the flying enemies.

Once I reached her, I switched to gun form and loaded up a basic spread shot before beginning to fire round after round into the seemingly endless swarm. We were definitely thinning down their numbers, but it really didn't seem like it with how dense the swarms still was.

As the combat intensified, I found myself standing back to back with Alisa as we continuously switched between gun form to shoot down as many of the Zygotes as we could before switching to blade form and devouring to restore our Oracle reserves. It was a deadly synergy where when one of us happened to run out of shots, the other would pick up the slack and unload.

But… It was clear to anyone that the silver-haired girl was getting tired. Even with the Bias Factor powering us up, she was defending the plane essentially on her own against a horde much larger than the one we were fighting against right now.

"Alisa," I shouted at her over the din of the battle. "Get back inside the plane! Lindow, Sakuya and I'll take over from here!"

"No. Not yet! I can still fight!"

This girl… It's nice that she's so dedicated, but her movements are starting to get sloppy. Her shots are missing more and more, and her form changes are getting slower and slower.

Sighing, I returned my full focus to fighting off the Aragami when I heard a roar that shook the plane and nearly blew me off my feet. After regaining my balance, I noticed that the Zygotes had stopped attacking us and had begun dispersing.

"What the hell…" I muttered under my breath as the sky cleared in a matter of seconds.

" _Holy shit! There's a huge Oracle response approaching us!"_ The pilot shouted over the intercom.

Just as he said that, the clouds broke and a massive black form along with a wriggling mass of tentacles. The size of the thing easily dwarfed the plane, hell it was probably the same size as the entire Far East branch.

" _Guys! We're abandoning the helicopter!_ " Sakuya's life crackled to life in my ear. _"With any luck, the helicopter should distract the Ouroboros from following the plane!"_

So that thing's an Ouroboros… How the hell did Lindow kill something like that on his own?!

"Fuck me sideways… That thing is huge," Lindow whistled as he walked up to us, a lit cigarette already between his lips.

Or not. I guess this thing is an outlier. Let's hope to whatever god is out there that that thing doesn't come anywhere near the Far East Branch.

A clang coming from behind us pulled my attention away from the colossal Aragami. It was Sakuya and… she had the pilot strapped to her back like some kind of overgrown baby. Poor guy looked like he was about to piss his pants, too.

"Well, now that that ordeal is over, why don't we head inside so we can catch some R&R," Lindow said as he made his way to the tail of the plane.

* * *

 **Omake: Before the Storm**

"Sayaaa!"

I glanced up from my smartphone game to see Miyako sprinting towards me at full speed, which is pretty damn fast considering she's captain of the track team, with a piece of toast hanging from her mouth.

"Geez," slipping my phone into my schoolbag, I placed my hands on my hips and scowled at the rapidly approaching girl. "You're always on time for your morning club meetings, but you're almost always late any other day. Do you really hate me that much?"

"Oh come on," the tomboy replied as she slung an arm around my neck. "You know I love you."

Sighing, I lifted her arm off of me and dropped it.

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Come on. We can still make it to school on time if we hurry."

"Hehe. Alrighty. Race ya there!"

Before I could respond, Miyako had already taken off ahead of me. Seriously. That girl can sleep like a bear, but when she's awake she has enough energy to power a nuclear reactor.

Adjusting my grip on my bag, I ran after her slowly retreating form in the distance.

When I finally got to the school gates, Miyako was waiting there for me with a victorious grin looking no more tired than she was before the competition. Meanwhile, I was struggling for a breath and my hair was matted to my forehead with sweat. Seriously. She's a first year in high school. How can she run this fast?

"Looks like it's my win again!" She declared while puffing out her chest. "And you know what that means~!"

I heaved a sigh and tried to fix my hair while firing a glare at her. "La Soleil after school. Right?"

"That's right! Heehee!"

Miyako's happiness was contagious and I found myself smiling along with her.

"Come on, you glutton. We've still got a whole day of classes to get through."

"Right! Time to sleep, then!"

"You know. You should really pay attention in class. Maybe then you won't get bad grades all the time."

Another day of boring classes and pretending to be a model student over with. At least I'm using the time to do some mental training.

"Yo, Saya! You ready to hit the town?"

Miyako's hands slammed down on my desk, startling me out of my thoughts as her massive chest wrapped up in our school's uniform dangled tauntingly in front of my eyes. Still hard to believe this girl's only fifteen.

"Sure. I'm good to go," I replied as I finished packing up my notes and textbooks.

Grabbing my bag, I stood up and stumbled when everything began shaking.

"Wh-What the-?! An earthquake?!"

The other students began screaming and shouting as the tremors only grew worse with many of them falling over.

"Tch. Dammit!"

Grabbing Miyako, I pushed her under my desk. As I crouched down to try to join her, something outside the window caught my attention.

It looked surreal. Multiple gigantic spires scattered throughout the city were pushing their way out of the ground and growing until they dwarfed even the skyscrapers.

"What the fuck..?" I whispered as I stared at the structures. It was only until a new chorus of screams erupted when I noticed that the ground had stopped shaking.

"What in the world is that?" I heard Miyako say next to me.

Before I could respond, the door to the classroom was sent flying off of its hinges and slammed into the teacher, splattering her into the opposite wall in a red, gory mess. A millisecond later a strange, dinosaur-like monster bounded into the room and pounced on a student. A jet of blood erupted from the guy as the monster tore off his arm with its razor sharp teeth.

Clicking my tongue, I reached into the depths of my consciousness and unlocked my Vault. I drew a basic short sword and charged at the still feeding monster.

"Haaaaaah!"

I brought the blade down with as much force I could muster only for it clang harmlessly off of it.

"What?!"

Still shocked at how utterly useless the attack was, I didn't see the tail swipe coming until it was too late. The appendage slammed into my stomach and sent me flying across the room, bowling over multiple people before coming to a violent stop against the wall.

My vision swam before me as I struggled back onto my feet. I could tell there was even more shouting and screaming than before, but the ringing in my ears prevented me from hearing anything coherent. Suddenly, I felt somebody grab me and lift me into their arms before taking off.

Damn. That hit must've given me a concussion. As the person continued to run, I found it getting harder and harder to keep my eyes open. Before I let the darkness overtake my consciousness, I faintly noted a sticky red liquid dripping down the side of my head.

* * *

I awoke with a jolt at the sudden sound of my alarm clock blaring it's unbearably annoying beeps. Throwing the sheets off of me, I reached up with my arm to try to rub my eyes only to feel a cold slab of metal come in contact with my cheek.

That's right.

The sight of the heavy red and black bracelet greeted me as I stared down at it.

Just a dream, huh? Haven't had one of those in a while. Especially one as vivid and real as that.

The Advent, as I came to call it, happened so fast and so sudden that more than half of the human population was destroyed within hours. The remaining humans didn't stand a chance as more and more died to the Aragami over the years until only a tenth of us remained. Even I was completely useless against them. Not even Excalibur or the Longinus did anything to them. The only weapon I had that could actually combat them was my Travel Journal which essentially erases things from existence, but that was an extremely limited resource and there were a seemingly unlimited number of Aragami. Everything seemed so hopeless until the God Eaters appeared.

Now I actually have a chance to fight back against these things.

Sighing, I reached over to the nightstand and grabbed the new eye patch I had requisitioned, a mainly black strip of cloth with a grey trim and a Fenrir insignia emblazoned on the center, before slipping it on.

The eye I lost… It means more to me than just an eye. It's a reminder to me of the sacrifices I've made along the way.

I stretched and slid off my bed, feeling the cold wood of the floor on my feet.

Now then. Hello to another day of slaying Aragami. Same shit different day in every sense.

* * *

 **Omake: Date With Hibari – 1**

I sat at the counter of the bar nursing a glass of whiskey as I waited for Hibari to show up. My suit jacket was hanging precariously off the edge of the counter next to me and my dress shirt was buttoned up halfway leaving a good portion of my skin showing. Honestly, I feel like I could've easily passed off as a Yakuza if society hadn't been destroyed. I just need a little pin with a family name on it pinned to my suit's lapel to complete the look. Hm… Maybe I should give it a shot sometime.

"Hey, Saya. Sorry. Did I keep you waiting?"

Glancing up from my drink, I noticed Hibari standing beside me dressed in her uniform.

I smiled and gestured at the seat next to me. "Of course not. Here. Sit down. Take a load off. I imagine being an Operator gets pretty stressful."

I motioned for the bartender as Hibari slid onto the stool. "Hey, Master. A Ruby for Hibari and another Yamazaki for me."

"Eh?" Hibari looked at me at with a surprised look on her face. "But I-"

"Don't worry. It's one of the many non-alcoholic drinks this guy serves," I said as the bartender went to work mixing Hibari's drink after topping up my glass.

Of course, it wasn't actual whiskey much like how the beer and cigarettes are pale imitations of what they were like before the Advent. The Fenrir R&D teams did their best to replicate as many of the old world luxuries as they could after we lost a majority of our livestock and plant life to the Aragami.

"You really love to drink, don't you, Saya? You're kind of like Lindow in that way," Hibari commented as she propped her elbows onto the counter and placed her chins in a cradle made with her hands as the bartender slid the completed ruby red concoction towards her on a coaster.

"Hehe. Yeah. We lost a lot of things in the Advent, so taking my time and drinking like this to me is kind of like a reminder of how the world was like before."

Crap. I didn't even realize what I said until after it was out of my mouth. Maybe I should slow down on the drinking.

"Hm? But… You're profile says that you're thirty-six. That Aragami appeared in 2050 so wouldn't you have been only fifteen at the time? Don't tell me you were a delinquent." Although there was a slight hint of teasing in her tone, it was still a genuine question.

This is problematic. The best thing to do now would be just to smile and play it off.

I chuckled and grinned at her. "Why don't I leave that to your imagination, little miss Operator."

Hibari giggled at that. "I can definitely see you being a leader of some gang even at that age. You always look so confident and your talent for fighting Aragami is really something."

"Heh. Thanks for the compliment. Although to be honest, I was the epitome of a model student back in the day. A prim and proper hard worker with good grades to show for it."

The revelation took Hibari by surprise as she stared at me in shock. "Eh? Really?! I never would have guessed!"

Smirking, I nodded and downed the rest of my drink before motioning for another. "Yeah. The only thing I did that was out of the ordinary was joining up with a bunch of different martial arts clubs."

"Wow… I kind of wish I could've seen what you looked like when you were younger."

"Yeah. Once the Advent happened, I had to change, and that's the Saya you know today."

There was a brief lull in our conversation as the two of us sat in silence enjoying each other's company and our drinks with the only sound coming from the speakers playing lounge music.

"Sorry about all that," I said, breaking the silence.

Hibari blinked at me and tilted her head in confusion. "Huh? For what?"

"I asked you out on your time off to have a good time, but I just ended up rambling on about the old days. Must be pretty boring listening to an old lady reminisce, huh?"

The red-haired Operator shook her head before smiling at me. "Of course not! I've always been interested in what the old world was like so I spend a lot of time reading history books about it, so getting to listen to a personal account of somebody's life back then is like a blessing!"

I returned the smile before sliding my empty glass to the bartender who took it with a nod.

"Well, thanks anyways for listening to me for so long. You must be tired and it's getting late so let's call it a night here, yeah?"

Hibari checked her watch before nodding.

"You're right. Wow. I didn't notice that so much time had already passed."

Standing up, I grabbed my jacket and slung it over my shoulder before turning to face the Operator.

"I'm gonna go turn in now. I've already paid for the drinks so there's no need to worry about that. I'll see you tomorrow."

The girl nodded and waved before finishing the rest of her drink.

"Alright! Thanks for inviting me out like this. It was fun. I hope we can do this again sometime soon. I'd love to hear your stories of what the old world was like!"

Chuckling, I turned and shot a wave over my shoulder before walking back to my room.

Good girl, that one. Maybe I'll give Tatsumi some pointers on how to capture her heart.

* * *

 **-NORN-**

 **Saya** **(36 y.o.)**

 _The first New-Type to join the Far East Branch._

 _[REDACTED]_

 _Dr. Paylor Sakaki's medical check acknowledges the high potential in the individual. Assigned to the branch at the same time as Kota Fujiki._

 **Loadout:**

 **Label:** New-Type Pioneer

 **Melee:** Claudia (Knife)

 **Gun:** Castor Pollux (Shotgun)

 **Shield:** Incitatus (Buckler)

 **Modules:** Speed, Step Distance

 **Predator Style:** Skirmisher (Bändiger, Mistral, Sechshorn, Guzzle, Geist)

 **Favorite Bullet:** Drill Spread

 **Style:** Fauna Suit, Fauna Slacks


	4. Chapter 4

**AN:** Another update for volume two as I'm working on volume one's remake. This chapter is a little shorter than I'd like it to be, but I'm building up to the Moon in the Welkin mission. Anyways, thank you all for your continued support and has stuck with me during my journey.

* * *

After finally arriving back at base after a relatively peaceful journey, Lindow immediately ordered Alisa to go rest for the remainder of the day. Despite all of her protests, she grudgingly agreed after Dr. Sakaki came to the rescue and said that he needed to run some tests on her.

And so with nothing else to do, I decided to go and try to find Soma to drag him out on a mission with me. Out of the entirety of the First Unit, Soma's the only person who I haven't had the chance to partner up with yet despite the fact that nearly a month had passed.

It wasn't too hard to spot him. He always kept to himself and his unique appearance made him stick out like a sore thumb.

"Hey, Soma," I greeted as I approached him leaning against a wall next to a vending machine sipping a drink.

He grunted in response and glared at me from under his hood before deciding to try to ignore me completely.

I couldn't help but sigh at how he was acting. Honestly, he's less of a Death God and more like an edgy teenager. Who even started the rumour about him being a Death God anyways? God Eaters already have a high mortality rate. So what if most of his teammates end up getting killed. Not to mention the entire First Unit is still alive.

"You know, you should treat you elders with a little more respect. Don't go thinking you're some kind of hotshot just 'cause you're called a Death God around here."

Soma's body tensed up at that, and… is he growling? Hm. That worked better than I expected. He's really sensitive about this whole Death God thing, huh. A kid's still a kid after all.

Smirking, I continued. "Say, why don't we make a little deal, Mr. Death God? Let's go out on a mission together and put those rumours to the test. I want to see for myself if I really will die if I stay around you long enough."

The white-haired boy scoffed and threw his empty can into a nearby trash bin before pushing off the wall. He walked towards me, closing the distance in a couple of strides, and leaned down so close that I could feel his breath against my face.

"You should know to stay away from me if you don't want to land yourself in an early grave," he growled menacingly.

Holding his intense gaze, I smirked as a wicked idea came to fruition. Grabbing his tie, I yanked him down, closing the rest of the distance between us, and planted a chaste kiss on his lips before pushing him away.

"Think of that as an advance payment," I said. "You'll get a lot more than that if you agree to come with me on more missions from now on."

Soma retained his stunned expression for a few more seconds as a blush crept up onto his face before he rapidly shook his head and wiped his sleeve across his mouth.

Heh. What a typical reaction from a young boy with no experience with women.

"Wh-What makes you think I want more, you old hag?!"

"Oh? Then maybe I should change the conditions. If you don't agree to coming on a mission with me, I'll just have to keep attacking you until you break."

A myriad of emotions ran through his face ranging from pure disgust to slight interest. It took everything I had to not just burst out laughing at his innocent reaction.

"Tch. Fine! I'll come with you," he grumbled while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Just don't blame me when you end up dead."

And it's my win. I've met enough people like him in the past to know exactly which buttons to push to get them to do my bidding.

"It takes a lot to kill me. Trust me," I replied while turning away and walking back to the elevator. "Just check in with Hibari when you're done preparing. I already picked out a good mission for us."

* * *

Rain pelted down all around us as a tornado raged in the background creating a harmonious melody of chaos when coupled with the sounds of gunshots and battle. The mission was a simple one; Cocoon Maidens and Ogretails had taken up residence in an area so we just had to clean them out. It was easy enough that I could split my attention between killing Aragami and keeping an eye on how Soma fights. He cleaved through Aragami with ease with his massive blade. Each swing brought with it a gout of Aragami "blood" and a completely bisected corpse. He fights with all the grace of a bulldozer, but I'd be lying if I said that he wasn't efficient.

In the end, we managed to clean out the area in record time.

" _Good job you two! All targets eliminated,"_ Hibari congratulated over the radio. _"Extraction is on its way."_

Readjusting my hood, I made my way over to Soma who was cleaning his blackened blade on a patch of grass.

"We should definitely go on more missions together," I said, giving the kid a slap on his back which earns me a scowl.

"Tch. If that'll get you to stay the hell away from me back at base."

I simply grinned back up at him as he shot me a death glare. Suddenly, his eyes went wide as his gaze fixated on something behind me. At the same time, I heard Hibari's voice crackle to life in my ears warning the two of us about a Vajra that had appeared on the field.

As Soma dashed forward while simultaneously bringing his God Arc up in a slash, I dived to the side and switched to gun form before firing a shot at the Vajra that had landed right on the spot where I was standing at. A second too late and I would've definitely been crushed between its jaws. Where the hell did that thing even come from?!

Soma's blade smashed into its armoured head, stunning it as my frantic shot glanced harmlessly off of its cape. I took advantage of the opening my partner created for me and began dancing around the beast, covering it with a myriad of slashes and bullets. It roars and discharges a dome of electricity which catches Soma in the midst of his attack and sends him sprawling. He gets up a moment later looking none the worse for wear and charges at the Vajra again. This time, he ducks under the Vajra's paw as it swipes at him, its claws scraping against his blade before smashing it into its jaw. As the Vajra reals backward from the blow, I vault over Soma using his Buster Blade as leverage and land on the Vajra's head. Stuffing the barrel of my gun into its open maw, I unload my salvo of drill bullets into its stomach.

With the two of us working in tandem, the Vajra didn't stand a chance and we felled it just as the sound of spinning rotors announced the arrival of our extraction helicopter.

"What the hell was that?" The tanned boy asked to nobody in particular as he finished ripping the core out of the Vajra.

" _I'm sorry you guys. For some reason, the Vajra's reading didn't appear until it was almost on top of you. It was almost as if it just appeared out of nowhere._ "

Where did it come from? I got lucky since my reactions are fast, but if it had been anyone else they probably would've died.

I glanced at Soma who's staring at the swirling vortex of Oracle cells in the center of the field.

Don't tell me… The Vajra hid inside there to mask its presence in order to ambush its prey?

Crafty bastard. I'll have to make a note of that in the mission report and keep that in mind for any future missions. Dr. Sakaki did mention that the Aragami that had survived for a long time end up evolving and growing smarter.

But for now I think I'll just rub this victory in Soma's face.

Smirking, I sidled up to the boy who still looked pissed about having been caught off guard.

"So, Death God," I said while wrapping an arm around his shoulder. "How does it feel seeing someone defy your so-called curse?"

Soma clicked his tongue and pushed me away before turning around and walking towards the idling helicopter.

"You just got lucky."

"Heh. That smile on your face is telling me a different story."

"Hmph."

Stepping into the aerial vehicle, I sit in the seat across from Soma as he folds his arms across his chest and closes his eyes. Seems like I've got my work cut out for me if I want to break him out of his shell.

After getting back to base, our resident Death God immediately stormed off to his room with an even more intense scowl then before. I guess he didn't take too kindly to all of my teasing on the trip back. Unfortunately, Alisa was still undergoing some tests with Dr. Sakaki, Kota was busy watching Bugurally, Lindow was off on one of his so-called "dates" again, and I didn't really want to bother Sakuya who was relaxing in her room.

So having nothing else to do after finishing my after mission report, I decided to head to the lobby to see what kind of entertainment I could find.

Stepping out of the elevator as its doors began sliding shut, the first thing I saw was Tatsumi at the mission counter flirting with Hibari again while Brendan and Kanon sat off to the side discussing something. Meanwhile, Shun and Karel were arguing with each other again as Gina stood watching them with an amused smile.

All in all, business as usual.

At that moment the elevator dinged, signalling its arrival again and a pair of footsteps stopped abruptly behind me before I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Master? Is that you?"

It was a voice that I was all too familiar with. It belonged to someone whom I had thought I would never see again.

"Lenka?"

* * *

 **Omake: Survival of the Fittest**

One week after the Advent, the world had mostly been destroyed by the Aragami. Conventional weapons were near useless against them after all. Even the small ones that resembled small animals were impervious. In fact, attacking them just seemed to make them even stronger. The rate the Aragami evolve at was insane. New types of Aragami that weren't there on the day of the Advent had begun appearing en masse as soon as the second day. Humanity was fighting a losing battle, and it seemed like there was no way around it. Not even I could do anything to them with my only effective weapon only having one hundred uses. In the end I simply decided that I was going to survive for as long as I could

I suddenly felt a hand slap me on my back, jolting me out of my thoughts. Groaning, I turned slightly to face my friend that I managed to escape with. Once again she had that optimistic grin permanently stitched onto her face. But if it weren't for her I wouldn't even be alive right now.

"What's with you, Saya? You were making a pretty scary face just now," Miyako commented as she wrapped her arms around my neck and rested her chin on my head. "You better not be thinking that you're useless again."

"Heh. Not only are you the ace of the track team, but now you can read minds? Isn't that a bit unfair?" I replied with a mirthless chuckle.

"Ain't that a given? We've known each other since we were kids, Saya, or at least since I was a kid since you're… you know; that dimensional thing."

"Dimensional Ruler."

"Right! Right, that! Dimensional Ruler!"

I found myself cracking a smile at her enthusiasm despite the situation we were in. That girl really is a wonder of nature. She didn't even bat an eye when I told her the truth about my existence. All she did was just shrug and say: "So? You're still Saya to me."

"Hehe. You finally smiled again! It's another win for me!" Miyako shouted in celebration as she hugged me tighter.

"I thought we weren't doing that anymore."

Letting out a defeated sigh, I melted into her embrace. What the hell am I even supposed to do in this world?

A lot happened when we were on the run from the Aragami. A couple of days after the Advent, Miyako and I managed to make it an evacuation shelter the JSDF set up near the edge of the city where there were less Aragami. Unfortunately, not long after we arrived it was attacked and destroyed by Aragami. As we were escaping again, I was blindsided by some kind of boar looking Aragami and broke my arm. The next few days were spent desperately running and hiding from the Aragami until we finally came across this mall and this little storage closet. We've been able to survive so far with the supplies we have, but sooner or later we'll have to leave to search for more.

Untangling myself from Miyako's embrace, I stand up and move to the blocked door.

"I'm going to go search for some supplies. The mall should still have some stuff left in it."

Miyako nods before waving and flopping backwards onto the mattress we use as a bed.

"Roger. Watch yourself out there!"

I shove the shelf blocking the door out of the way before opening it a crack and taking a peek through. Alright. Coast is clear. Slipping out, I gently shut the door behind me and hear the shelf being pushed back into place.

First order of business is to secure some food and water. The supermarket should be my first stop in that case. It'd also be a good idea to secure some more medical supplies. After that we'll need some more clothes as well.

Taking a deep breath, I start making my way quickly but quietly through the maintenance hallway until I make it out to the lobby. So far so good. No Aragami in sight.

I keep my eyes peeled for any sign of movement as I pick up the pace and dash through the ruined building. Everything goes well and I manage to pick up some canned food and bottled water along with some ibuprofen, alcohol, and bandages. It isn't until I reach the second floor when things start to go wrong. There are dead bodies of people scattered haphazardly around the floor with a couple of dog-like Aragami roaming around devouring the cadavers.

It's strange. The Aragami usually kill by eating its prey. When they're done with their meal there usually isn't anything left of the body, and yet there are people here who still have all their limbs attached. The cause of death is most definitely the circular holes punctured through the bodies, but they don't look like they were caused by bullets. In fact, there's little to no blood around the wounds at all; almost as if they were shot by some kind of laser.

Sneaking past the feeding Aragami, I enter a clothing store and immediately stop when I see a strange figure standing in the center of the store.

It looks like an iron maiden..? This isn't exactly a gothic-themed store so there's no reason for an iron maiden to be on display here.

I creep close to the thing, making sure to hide behind the shelves and clothing racks before circling around. I'm directly behind the thing and can almost reach out to touch it when I see that the iron maiden isn't a store display at all.

It's growing out of the ground. Don't tell me this thing is an Aragami, too. At least it doesn't seem to have noticed me yet.

Backing away slowly, I snatch some shirts and pants from the shelves before doubling back towards the entrance. I shoot one last glance over my shoulder at the iron maiden only to see it staring straight at me. All of a sudden, its front opens up revealing its fleshy guts and a beam of light shoots towards my face. The smell of burning hair fills my nostrils as I barely manage to tilt my head away from the shot.

What the hell?!

The Aragami looks like it's gathering up energy to shoot another laser at me.

Turning around, I sprint towards the railing before vaulting over it as the beam passes over me and bores a hole through the opposite wall.

What the hell was that thing? It doesn't hunt like the other Aragami, and it has that insane projectile attack as well. These Aragami are evolving faster than I thought. I don't doubt that new evolutions appear every day. If this keeps up, it'll be too dangerous to let Miyako go out to scavenge. We've been trading off who leaves the base and who stays behind so I'll need to talk to her when I get back.

The repeated sounds of an incessant beeping invade my ears and I find myself waking up in my bed once again. Another dream, huh.

Although I know how this dream will end, something inside me is wishing that I could change the outcome.

Turning off the alarm, I walk into the bathroom attached to my room and stare into the mirror. The visage of a tired woman stares back at me. An ugly scar about the width of two fingers runs vertically down from my forehead, over my left eye, and ends at my cheek. My left eye. Whereas my right eye is a clear, azure blue my left eye is clouded and gray. I gently trace a finger along the edges of the scar. A dull ache accompanies the trail my touch leaves, but its but a lingering phantom compared to when I lost it.

I sigh before splashing some water onto my face. Walking back to my bed, I grab the eye patch sitting on my end table and affix it over my damaged eye. I don the rest of my clothes and steel my gaze before walking out of my room.

Ah… When will this dream of mine end?

* * *

 **-NORN-**

 **Saya** **(36 y.o.)**

 _The first New-Type to join the Far East Branch._

 _[REDACTED]_

 _Dr. Paylor Sakaki's medical check acknowledges the high potential in the individual. Assigned to the branch at the same time as Kota Fujiki._

 **Loadout:**

 **Label:** New-Type Pioneer

 **Melee:** Claudia (Knife)

 **Gun:** Castor Pollux (Shotgun)

 **Shield:** Incitatus (Buckler)

 **Modules:** Speed, Step Distance

 **Predator Style:** Skirmisher (Bändiger, Mistral, Sechshorn, Guzzle, Geist)

 **Favorite Bullet:** Drill Spread

 **Style:** Fauna Suit, Fauna Slacks


End file.
